forindooruseonly
Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2009
- Messages
- 1,076
I recently helped a friend move to a new house, his wife and he no longer had kids at home, are getting older, and really needed to downsize to a smaller home with less maintenance. He had a large barn which doubled as farm shop and storage. While separating what was to go, what was to throw away and what was to sell, we came across this Century FAL on a shelf....
Turns out it was one of his boys, the wild one as it happens, who is no longer allowed to legally have firearms. The gun must have been there for ten or fifteen years based off my memory about when and how things went down. My friend laughed and said it was a hunk of junk that was always problematic, mostly because it kept coming apart while shooting it
Anyways, he didn't want it, didn't even realize it was out there. He's a shooter, but has no real use for something like this - it doesn't fit his tastes which run heavy to blue/walnut classics. So, in thanks for helping him move, he gave it to me. This thing is rough. The bolt cycles, but is sticky. There are patches of rust that make this look like it has been serving in a third world.
Worse, I suppose the latch that keeps it from breaking open wasn't operating correctly, because there are hammer marks on the lever and frame where the son apparently beat the lever shut. I couldn't get the lever to budge, but I haven't spent much time yet..
Hell, there's even hot glue(?) on the barrel. You don't see that every day on a well maintained rifle. I really doubt this thing has ever been cleaned. Frankly, I 'm a little hesitant to even take a peek at the bore!
Anyways, THR, what should I do with it? I've never really messed with an FAL or clone. On one hand, I'm thinking of just cleaning it, getting it functioning, and shooting it. Rust and all. On the other, I am thinking maybe having it coated and try to do something interesting with it. It's a Century, so nothing even remotely special, but since all I have in it is labor and a friend's generosity, I could afford to throw a couple of bucks at it and not feel bad about throwing good money after bad.
Turns out it was one of his boys, the wild one as it happens, who is no longer allowed to legally have firearms. The gun must have been there for ten or fifteen years based off my memory about when and how things went down. My friend laughed and said it was a hunk of junk that was always problematic, mostly because it kept coming apart while shooting it
Anyways, he didn't want it, didn't even realize it was out there. He's a shooter, but has no real use for something like this - it doesn't fit his tastes which run heavy to blue/walnut classics. So, in thanks for helping him move, he gave it to me. This thing is rough. The bolt cycles, but is sticky. There are patches of rust that make this look like it has been serving in a third world.
Worse, I suppose the latch that keeps it from breaking open wasn't operating correctly, because there are hammer marks on the lever and frame where the son apparently beat the lever shut. I couldn't get the lever to budge, but I haven't spent much time yet..
Hell, there's even hot glue(?) on the barrel. You don't see that every day on a well maintained rifle. I really doubt this thing has ever been cleaned. Frankly, I 'm a little hesitant to even take a peek at the bore!
Anyways, THR, what should I do with it? I've never really messed with an FAL or clone. On one hand, I'm thinking of just cleaning it, getting it functioning, and shooting it. Rust and all. On the other, I am thinking maybe having it coated and try to do something interesting with it. It's a Century, so nothing even remotely special, but since all I have in it is labor and a friend's generosity, I could afford to throw a couple of bucks at it and not feel bad about throwing good money after bad.